May 22, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR MAYLING WONG IN IL
Careers in science reflect the goals in science - to discover basic
knowledge in a scientific field, such as biology, chemistry, or physics.
Careers in engineering focus on how to best apply scientific principles to
items and services that benefit people. For example, as a mechanical
engineer, I appreciate the advances that scientists make in material
science - new polymers, new metals, new composites. But my job entails me
to use the new materials in ways that make an older design better, like
applying the new material to a car so that it is lighter in weight and
cheaper to manufacture.

With new scientific discoveries coming at a fast rate, sometimes the
scientist's job is more like an engineer in applying the discovery to
something practical. For example, in the pharmeceutical industry,
scientists work to apply new discoveries to make better medicine. Also,
sometimes scientists need the training from other fields to do their work.
Many scientists in the medical field are doctors by training who
concentrate their careers in advancing medicine, like prosthetics and
neurology.
********************
A: FROM MENTOR MOLLY WILLIAMS IN MI
Scientists and engineers do a lot of the same things, but the
motivation is a little different. One good way of describing the
difference is that scientists find out how things work, while
engineers make things that work. The intent of a scientist is to
discover the rules by which the universe runs, while an engineer
wants to create something that will serve a purpose. There's also
the saying that a scientist will build a big, expensive, complicated
machine in order to learn about science, while an engineerlearns
about science so that he or she can build a big, expensive,
complicated machine.
However, when you get into a workplace, both scientists and
engineers are discoverers and problem solvers. Especially if you
are working in a business or industry, you will still be doing
experiments and making measurements in order to learn how something
(like a new drug or a new aircraft engine or a new manufacturing
process) works and to see if there are ways it could be improved.